"Useful" children's books have various categories: cognitive enlightenment, emotional management, logic training, popular science encyclopedia, artistic aesthetics... Even if it is just an ordinary picture book story, it will be given emotional education to some extent. Out of anxiety or a certain habit, whether it is the publisher's introduction to the outside world or the reader's purchase, it is accustomed to emphasizing these book information that can immediately show that it is very "useful".
However, there are always some books, i don't know if it is lucky or unfortunate, completely avoid these function points that can be refined, and cannot be promoted too comprehensively. They are quiet and low-key, or focus on some sensual, poetic aspect, or only provide some simple and pure fun, or have seemingly rich content, but in fact all useless "knowledge points", such as the book reviewer Junjun today to take you to see this serious "nonsense" "Dwarf".
"The Dwarf", by [Dutch] Will Hagen, [Dutch] Ryan Putwood, translated by Lin Liang/Pan Renmu, co-reading and | Beijing United Publishing Company September 2021 edition, suitable age: 7+.
The Dwarf is a thick illustrated encyclopedia in which the two authors tell all aspects of the dwarfs' lives in a non-fictional form, from food, clothing, entertainment, medical architecture, and their attitude towards nature— all in a rigorous scientific manner—all of which are false. It does not sell popular science knowledge, but sells humor and fantasy, and finally the author has written 9 legends about dwarfs.
This kind of practice of creating an alternate world and setting up a worldview is not uncommon in games and movies, but it seems a little different in children's books. "Almost all the truth about the elves" and "Almost all the truth about the mermaid" that Lang Huaduo has produced are also such books, in the form of popular science, writing books for fantasy things, with mixed truth and falsehood, humorous and playful.
Covers of "Almost the Whole Truth About the Elves" and "Almost all the truth about the Mermaid".
For many parents, they are not related to practicality, lack clear meaning, and are far from being the first choice for their children. (It can also be seen from the publisher's copy that the readership of the book is also more adult-oriented.) But for those who like it, it's really hard to like.
A serious "nonsense" that constructs a virtual world
I am not too curious about the fantasy creatures themselves, but I am very interested in this kind of "nonsense", which is a kind of literature that is difficult to define, neither a fantasy literature that is happy to admit that "all is fake", nor a well-founded popular science, everything is like a joke. The author steps on an invisible line, moving between the realm of reality and fiction. The reading process is like a delicate struggle, the author both wants to scare the reader, but also can't help but want to blink, saying: "This is all my fabrication, great." ”
Rather than being mesmerized by the dwarf, I am fascinated by the idea, what kind of "nonsense" will make the listener insist on listening to it knowing whether it is false or not?
As soon as the book was opened, the two authors quoted the Swedish writer Axel Mende (indeed), who said: I was surprised to hear that some people had never seen dwarfs. I think these people are really pitiful. The preface is also full of humor and cunning: they claim that they have spent twenty years observing and interviewing dwarfs, and it took five years to get permission from the dwarf committee to publish the record of the observations. The look of the oath makes people smile.
I have to say that the worldview in "Dwarf" is far more detailed than I expected. Dwarves are only active at night, and according to the area in which they are active, they can be subdivided into several types: forest dwarfs, dune dwarfs, garden dwarfs, farm dwarfs... The clothing and dwellings of the dwarves in each region varied. Dwarfs have a lifespan of 400 years, so they do not get married until they are 100 years old, and weddings are always held on the night of the full moon, after which the dwarfs are usually born twins. In their daily practice, the children of the dwarfs have to learn cooking, weaving, carpentry, lacquering, knowing fungi, distinguishing between herbs, and how to escape into the ground when in danger...
Inside page of Dwarfs.
In addition, the book even describes what they ate for breakfast, a cross-section of the house where they lived, and the treatment of animals. Dwarfs get along well with animals, so they generally do not eat meat, and their tables have a variety of fungi, nuts, and protein, which are obtained from bird eggs, ant eggs, and large nest dishes.
The book shows the underground home of the dwarfs, the result of years of sawing tree trunks, burying pipes, and relying on various animals to help dig tunnels. The dwarf's house is delicate and small, and under the warm yellow light, every carving and decoration makes people feel warm and rich.
Dwarfs are not a miniature version of humans, and to construct a world in such great detail obviously requires imagination, logical ability, and a large amount of information to support. The author has a compelling key: the details. Details and details are intertwined, forming a world of logical self-consistency. Just showing them one by one makes people feel as if they have fallen into a rabbit hole.
Look back at human society from the perspective of a dwarf
Humans fantasize about demons and demons to explain the many difficulties in life, but at the same time they fantasize about elves and fairies as companions for boring life. Imagine a group of little people in pointy hats and white beards living underground, who live a low-key life, have unique customs, and at the same time have a lot in common with humans, which may feel warm. The quiet world of dwarfs, like every utopia, became a distant place for illusions.
Why dwarfs? Probably because they are similar in appearance to humans, they are far more intelligent than humans, or they have grasped the wisdom of living in harmony with everything in the world earlier. They are like the ideal version of human beings in the author's mind, with more acute senses, deeper wisdom, and most importantly, they are calm, and many of the problems that plague mankind have long been solved.
Dwarfs live to 400 years, and although they have lived so long, they still largely retain the way they lived centuries ago. The author spends a lot of time describing the details of their lives, not only to make the encyclopedia flesh and blood, but also a deep attachment to the golden age. They constructed a world of dwarfs, parallel to humanity, where everything was beautiful and fertile, and everything worked freely.
If 90% of the book is a brisk pseudo-science popularization, constructing an idyllic, poetic imagination, then the other 10% is a look back at human society from the perspective of a dwarf, with a faint irony and sarcasm. Human vision is not good, even the dwarfs can not see, naturally can not see the geniuses and artists of the same kind; human sense of smell is not sensitive, can not smell the breath left by various animals in the forest. Human beings love war, and there are always endless battles. The biggest problem is that humans have lost (or never possessed) some kind of ability to empathize with all things, so they unrestrainedly plunder from nature, causing species extinction, environmental pollution, and making the good old days never come again.
In a similar afterword, the author mentions a precious face-to-face encounter with the dwarf, a 379-year-old dwarf, leading them into the woods in the night, where time seems to stand still and nature rushes in like a warm ocean. They seemed to have "no weight, no age, all the things that have long been forgotten, and now they can be remembered at will." They "heard the breath of the trees, the whispers of the shrubs, the murmurs of moss... Rendezvous with all living cells on earth. Deep into the multidimensional space, the soul is peaceful and peaceful."
This is probably the closest moment to a fairy tale in this more than one hundred-page children's book, and the previous descriptions are all the surface of the dwarf's life, and only this force that is integrated with everything in the world and is closely connected with nature at all times is the essence of their life. The fiction of a non-existent dwarf world is not intended to make up sweet bedtime stories, but to provide a better imaginary life.
Now it seems that "Dwarf" is not all "useless" books, it can cultivate imagination, enhance aesthetics, cultivate environmental awareness, critical spirit... But rather than give it a function, I prefer to believe that its greatest significance lies in showing a kind of "useless" pleasure, a laid-back adaptation that coincides with the lifestyle of a dwarf.
After all, one of the biggest advantages of childhood compared to adult life is probably that you can spend a lot of time doing useless things, such as studying various legendary creatures, fantasizing about a wizard, goblin, mermaid, dwarf... A world that all exists. Adding wonderful details to the world when you are happy, gaining a sense of security from it when you encounter setbacks, and becoming a source of strength to face reality again.
Author | Trayling
Edit | Shen Chan
Proofreading | Liu Baoqing